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In tennis, the change of season is heralded by a change of surface. We swap the knee-jarring cement of America for the red clay of the Monte Carlo Country Club, a millionaire’s retreat.

The club’s patrons rarely seem captivated by the sight of the world’s best players, who will take over their courts next week. The diners on the balcony above will rattle their cutlery, while keeping up such a hubbub of chatter that you can barely hear the line-calls. And yet, despite the apathy of the members, Monte Carlo is a compelling place to watch tennis. The terre battue makes the sport feel less like a dance, more like physical combat. After a few minutes, the players’ calves and ankles are stained red, so that they could almost have “stepped in blood” like Macbeth.

Indeed, this same ringing phrase could apply to the whole town – a liminal space inhabited by superstar athletes, tax-dodgers, and Russian oligarchs such as Monaco FC’s owner Dmitry Rybolovlev, who was once jailed on suspicion of ordering a contract killing. The Riviera, as W Somerset Maugham observed, is “a sunny place for shady people”.

If tennis played a part in bringing the beau monde to the Cote d’Azur in the first place, then gambling, drink and duplicity are also long-standing elements of local life. In 1907, these ingredients came together in the prototypical Monte Carlo scandal. A former Wimbledon finalist named Vere St Leger Goold was found guilty of killing and dismembering the wealthy Swedish widow, Emma Levin, in what was swiftly dubbed “the trunk murder”.

Former Wimbledon finalist Vere St Leger Goold was found guilty of the "trunk murder"

Goold came from an eminent Cork family and was described by the Reverend John Hartley – who beat him in the 1879 Wimbledon final – as a “cheery, wild Irishman”. By the time he arrived in Monte Carlo, however, he was down on his luck. He and his wife Marie thought they had a foolproof plan to beat the bank at roulette, but were forced to cover their early losses by borrowing from Levin. When she knocked at the door of their rented villa to reclaim the debt, events took a tragic turn.

A porter at Marseille train station later noticed blood seeping out of Goold’s trunk. Police found Levin’s torso inside, while her head and lower legs turned up in a different bag. Despite initially protesting their innocence, the Goolds both died in custody, he on the prison colony of Devil’s Island and she in a Montpelier jail.

Goold died in custody, still protesting his innocenceCredit:
The All England Lawn Tennis Club

The case has since been turned into a stageplay (Love All) and a “true crime” book (Game, Set, Murder). The attraction is obvious, for if tennis and the Riviera have one thing in common, it is the desire to project a spotless image. In both cases, though, all that money and glamour are bound to cast a shadow.

From tennis’s perspective, this has never been more true than in the first three months of 2016. The year began with a match-fixing furore, gave way to Maria Sharapova’s doping confession and now to a new murder inquiry. The Dutch police have just remanded Mark de Jong, a prominent coach, in custody for another 60 days while they investigate the death of tennis-loving entrepreneur Koen Everink. Dutch newspapers suggest that De Jong had borrowed “tens of thousands” of euros from Everink to cover gambling debts.

This latest story seems poised to compound what has already been an annus horribilis for the game, yet the diners of Monte Carlo will clatter on as normal. They know there is nothing new under the sun.